33 at-large convicts arrested in North Sinai security campaigns

CAIRO: A total of 33 escaped convicts and 21 suspects were arrested in North Sinai security campaigns Monday, according to a statement by the governorate’s security directorate.

During campaigns from 6 p.m. Monday to midnight, criminal investigation officers and units of Central Security Forces detained 59 then released them after verifiying that their criminal records were clear.

North Sinai has been home to major militant attacks that have claimed the lives of hundreds of military personnel since the 2013 ouster of President Mohamed Morsi. Security forces’ have also launched wide-scale campaigns, killing, arresting and evacuating thousands.

Most recently nine people, including a three-year-old child, were killed and one severely injured Nov. 11 in an attack by unknown militants in north Sinai’s city of Arish; masked men raided their house and placed a bomb, detonating it and killing the victims.

Militants in North Sinai have killed dozens of civilians in the governorate in attacks targeting the police and military, or under the premise of the citizens’ alleged collaboration with security forces.